PwC Taps Martha Ruiz To Help Oversee Oscar Results

Here’s something for you hard-core Oscar fans who can’t get enough information about the awards — or want to know about the most glamorous job in tax consulting: Financial advisory firm PwC just announced that Rick Rosas, who has been balloting co-leader for 14 years, won’t handle the chore this year. Tax specialist Martha Ruiz will take his place, joining Brian Cullinan as the only people who will know the results ahead of the presentations at the February 22 telecast.

No need to worry about computer hacking here, it seems. The duo will “lead a team of tight-lipped, meticulous accountants who conduct the same ballot-counting method used for decades, maintaining a high-level of accuracy and confidentiality,” the company says.

Indeed, when PwC tablulates the final results, Cullinan and Ruiz will memorize every winner. Each will have a briefcase with envelopes containing the names. (No word on whether they’re handcuffed to them like the attache case Dan Aykroyd had for his harmonica in The Blues Brothers.) The co-leaders take separate, secret routes to the ceremony and hand an envelope with the winner to presenters before they walk onstage.

“PwC’s role in the Oscars balloting process represents the firm’s lasting legacy of utmost accuracy and confidentiality,” says Ruiz, who has been with PwC for nearly 18 years and is a tax partner in its entertainment, media and communications practice.